The Legend
by XXXpossessedforlifeXXX
Summary: Ash Ketchum has always had a hard time on his quest to be the best, but perhaps the addition of a Legendary and dozens of new pokemon will assist his efforts and allow him to mature. Takes place starting from Mewtwo Strikes Back.


**Hmm lost interest in my other stories so here's something I wanted to try out of boredom. Won't be updated frequently since I'm busy a lot but I'll see what I can do. This takes place starting near the ending of the first movie. The pokemon Mewtwo cloned will be edited a little, and lets just say Ash had his pidgeot with him. Also the beginner trainer's age is 12 here because somehow a 10 year old as opposed to a teen going through this is a lot less cool. He's 13 atm.**

Mewtwo stared in bewilderment as Ash's team rushed to the motionless, stony body of their trainer. For the first time, Mewtwo's gazed lacked the innate hard edge it had always exhibited.

The boy's Charizard, in spite of his exhaustion, was the first to reach the boy. Cradling the now rock-hard specimen in his powerful arms with no trouble, the orange dragon gently nuzzled Ash's unresponsive face. His trainer's death had been enough to teach Charizard to let go of his petty arrogance, though it was now too late.

Far, far too late.

The rest came in droves immediately after. The squirtle with an apparent ego crashed into the Charizard, his demeanor forlorn and worried for once. The bulbasaur whose appearance masked his experience, slowly padded mournfully to the corpse and prodded it with his vines in disbelief. The Pidgeot, wounded and exhausted, awkwardly hopped over to the remains of the brave trainer, and gave a heartbreaking shriek, unable to accept her trainer's demise.

The pikachu came running last, ignoring the pain in every step. Pikachu simply could not accept the loss of his best friend and trainer. His trainer had been the one to show Pikachu that humans had good in them. His trainer had risked his life to save him before they even got to know each other. His trainer had taught him the ways of battling and under his guidance, Pikachu had made short work of innumerable enemies.

But now Ash was gone.

The others snarled or shrieked at the brutalized clones, most of which were worse for the wear than their progenitors. Charizard _dared_ them to try and interrupt the solemn mourning. He would burn them to ashes with his unquenchable flames. His rage would produce a terrible power, too dangerous for even the supercharged clones to strike.

Pikachu, however, cared not for the potential threats around him. He _would_ have a final moment with his fallen brother and do his best to try and crack the stone encasing the brave child.

As Charizard set Ash's body down and snarled derisively at the more aggressive clones, Pikachu mustered whatever remaining voltage he had within him and hurled it with all his might at Ash's prone form. "CHUUUU!" Pikachu cried, unrelenting even though he understood, with a dreadful feeling, that his efforts were in vain.

The tired mouse hurled bolt after bolt, yet the stone remained unyielding. Finally, the toll of his injuries caught up to him, and Pikachu ceased his flow of voltage. He collapsed on his best friend's cold remains, now only having the power to do one thing.

Cry.

And that the mouse did, sobbing at the loss of his trainer, his best friend...his _brother._ Slowly but steadily, the rest of the team succumbed to sorrow, and they too, shed tears for their fallen master.

What a display of compassion, Mewtwo mused as he observed the scene. Could it be...? Could the bond between human and pokemon have such benefits? The legend noticed, in astonishment, that now every pokemon in the room, save Mew and himself, were shedding tears for the deceased brave trainer.

 _Yes...you have come to the realization that most humans have good in them. Pokemon and humans can intermingle without harm, it is true._

Mewtwo glanced curiously at the source of the telepathic wisdom, Mew. Had he been wrong? Was his judgement of humans clouded by merely one malignant insect that was Giovanni?

The ageless voice spoke again in his mind, harnessing his attention.

 _You understand now...brother._

Mewtwo bristled noticeably at the last word. **_Brother? You address me as brother after what I've done?_**

 _You now understand the harm you've caused, young one. Look! Look now at the scene unfolding in front of you!_

Mewtwo's head snapped up, but froze as the tears from the pokemon found themselves drawn to the stone body of Ash. Thousands of droplets of sorrow met stone, and suddenly a light blue aura engulfed Ash Ketchum's corpse. The artificial legend's eyes gaped as the tears did what no Legendary could: the stone encasing the boy cracked, and then abruptly shattered wholly.

Pikachu cautiously prodded Ash's head with a delicate paw. He shook it once...then twice...and then a third time, yet there was still no response. A dreadful cry threatened to tear itself from the mouse...when the boy's dusty eyes suddenly regained the warm, amber coloration.

Ash Ketchum was once more.

The boy sat up, coughing a bit, struggling to regain his bearings. "W-what just happened? Did I-" He was cut off as his team threw themselves at him, rushing at him in a huge horde. Ash laughed a bit, and his eyes briefly widened at the sight of affection from Charizard, yet his perception remained distorted. Had he...just died?

 _Yes, young one, you did die. And for your bravery you were restored to life._

That telepathic voice had to be Mew, Ash realized in stunned silence. He'd been resurrected? Was he really anything significant, to have escaped the hands of Death?

 _ **Yes, Ash Ketchum, you are no insignificant human. You are more than I've ever seen.**_

That deep, imposing voice...Mewtwo? Ash's eyes flickered to the barbaric Legend. Why was the Legend not laying waste to the world? Had Ash's sacrifice convinced Mewtwo to agree to an armistice with Mew and the entire planet?

 _ **Yes human...your sacrifice convinced me of the benefits of a human and pokemon coexistence. Your kind shall remain thriving for a long time to come.**_

Ash's team, as well as the other pokemon on the shattered battlefield, rumbled in exhausted cheer, yet for Ash, the implications began to sink in. Had he...Ash Ketchum...saved the world? And if he had not been revived, what would have happened? His pokemon would not have reached any of their potential, and his trainer career would have been a failure, quite frankly.

What remarkable achievements had he accomplished on his path to the Indigo League? He'd gotten the eight most difficult gym badges in Kanto, true, but he'd bested only half of the gym leaders in true battle. The rest had either not even bothered to meet with him, or had given him the badge out of pity.

And of his training capabilities? His pokemon gained their power on their own, for the most part. Charizard realized this before anyone, and quickly rebelled against his incompetent master. His tactics were improvised in the midst of battle, and while his ability as a tactician was remarkable, he did not train his pokemon for such situations.

Ash had certainly not been the worst, but he was far from the best.

And that was going to change.

The two Legends pried into Ash's thoughts, surprised and impressed at the sheer determination the child was exhibiting. The boy began recalling his pokemon, and embraced his human friends as they wept in worry and relief.

 _Mewtwo...I can sense what you're thinking._

The taller creature glanced in annoyance at the smaller yet infinitely more experienced Legend.

 _ **Oh? And what am I thinking?**_

Mew rolled its eyes in lackadaisical annoyance.

 _Must we play this game? The boy is ready to depart. Now is your chance to ask seek your penance._

 _ **The boy, as courageous as he might be, is still nothing but a human child! I will not stoop to being a captured pokemon for any human!**_

 _Any human except him, young one. Go and seek your penance. It is nigh time for my departure._

And without a gesture of departure to Mewtwo, the feline blinked away, slipping through the fabric of space to a distant place few knew of. Mewtwo's eyes narrowed in disdain for a moment before turning to the humans, still amazed by the recent events.

 ** _Ash Ketchum...I will join your team._**

* * *

 ** _Ash Ketchum...I will join your team._**

The boy who defied death, froze for the second time today, only this time, it was his own doing. His fellow human companions, Misty and Brock also seemed to be shocked. And why wouldn't they? A pokemon who's power rivaled or even succeeded Mew's was asking to join Ash's team?

"B-but," the boy stammered, "W-"

 _ **Do not question my choice. I am doing as fate decrees. Make no mistake, however: you are the only human I will ever serve. None else shall gathered my respect as you have.**_

There had a been a hint of menace in the Legend's overbearing voice, yet the statement silenced any concerns Ash had. If the Legend wanted to join his team...then by all means, he would be welcomed.

"Okay then...welcome to the team Mewtwo!" Ash grinned, further astounding the other humans. Fergus, the brawny water-type specialist, was in the most ridiculous pose, with his eyes agape and mouth opened as widely as it could. Yet there was one more problem.

"But..what about the clones?" Ash gestured to the hordes of injured pokemon eyeing their creator in expectancy.

Mewtwo pondered the idea for a moment, before reaching a suitable solution.

 _ **You will also train them.**_

Ash was speechless.

He took in the full scope of the cloned pokemon: dozens of most fully evolved, extremely powerful pokemon, most likely hyperaggressive as well. They were essentially created to be killing machines, quite different from the pokemon he'd raised himself. Was he up to par for such a challenge? Or...

 _ **If you do not train them, and I allow them to subsist in the wild, they will wreak detrimental havoc given their exceptional powers.**_

The prospect of letting these hordes ravish the Kanto wilderness was not something Ash could entertain. They would end up being put down and killed with their aggressive natures, be it by swarms of other pokemon or the League itself. There was only one thing to do.

"I'll train them if...you remove the advantage they have over normal pokemon."

Mewtwo's eyes slightly widened appreciately.

 _ **You would do without the advantage over other trainers? Have it your way, consider it done.**_

Ash Ketchum was a trainer who commanded respect, it seemed, for limiting himself to the same levels as other humans. The Legend's eyes glowed a mystic blue a moment later, aimed in the direction of the clones. After half a minute, the clones were limited to the potential of their progenitors.

"Wait! Ash!" A harpy's shriek pierced Mewtwo's auditory nerve. What abomination could be so irritating?...Ah, it was Misty, Ash's female traveling companion. "Ash, isn't this too much of a responsibility for you?"

Mewtwo's eyes widened at the indignity of the accusation. Did she dare provoke his new master so? _Mewtwo_ was the judge of Ash's competence, not this **irritating** harpy. Before Mewtwo could interject, however, Ash took the opportunity to display his newly acquired intellect.

"Misty, maybe before today this would have been too much for me. But I just died, and came back to life. I understand how lucky I am to have gotten here, but from now on, I'll be a Pokemon Master without any luck. I understand it all now."

The dark-skinned companion, Brock, nodded approvingly, ready to commend Ash, though Misty was poised to shriek again.

Mewtwo took matters into his own hand.

 _ **Silence, harpy.**_ **I _am the judge of my partner's competence._ You _will not question Ash Ketchum again for your own well-being._**

Misty and the other humans, excluding Ash, were terrified at the unexpected outburst. The deep and dark tone of the Legend's voice was eerily unnerving. They could not be too quick to forget, it seemed, that the wrath of this entity could threaten the entire planet.

Mewtwo then turned to an unsettled Ash. In his cold, baritone voice he inquired,

 ** _What destination do you have in mind, human._**

It resonated as more of a statement than a question, yet Ash still answered, "Could you take us to Pallet Town? Oh, but those three and their pokemon-" Ash was cut off as a icy blue aura enveloped Fergus, Cory, Neesha and their pokemon, and transported them far away. "Where'd you take them?"

 _ **The port from which you all set out from. Their memories of this happening were erased.**_

Before Ash could ask anything else, or lament having been forgotten by his newly found friends, the same icy blue light enveloped every being in the Colosseum, whisking them away through space and time.

* * *

A day or two to relax and meet his new pokemon was warranted, though Ash planned on setting out for his training soon. With Mewtwo's capacity of destruction, Pallet Town and even the surrounding wilderness was not safe to train. There was too high of a risk for collateral damage.

The bizarre group and their pokemon had arrived in the trainer's hometown a few hours ago. Ash had had a tearful reunion with his mother and the Professor, given that they had no word from him during the superstorm. The Professor obviously had received the data on his computer that Ash had captured quite the assortment of pokemon, but when the data for Mewtwo was received, Oak had quite literally passed out.

One of his proteges...had captured a reclusive Legendary pokemon? One that was known to less people than the number of fingers on his hands?

Misty and Brock opted to take long rests in Ash's house, but at the latter's behest, Mewtwo banished his exhaustion so that Ash could meet his new friends. Now he stood before the powerful group of pokemon, with the rare pokemon gracing his eyes for every few of his new friends.

His original pokemon stood off to the side in their own close knit formation: Pikachu, Charizard, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pidgeot, Kingler, and his Tauros.

In front of him appeared over two dozen creatures: Another Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pidgeot, and Pikachu, in addition to a golduck, ninetales, meowth, gyarados, seadra, nidoqueen, kadabra, vaporeon, scyther, hitmonlee, sandslash, rhyhorn, dewgong, vileplume, rapidash, dratini, nidoking, growlithe, kabutops, aerodactyl, and a machoke. Mewtwo, of course, hovered above all of them, watching Ash's assessment in interest.

It was a group filled with potential, and with the right discipline, every one of the creatures in front of him could be absolute monsters in battle, able to utilize tactics just short of being lethal.

The Indigo League was in just over two months...that was more than enough time to harness the power of his new friends.

Ash himself would need to enhance his battle techniques. He was a tactician without the means necessary to fulfill his will. He would need to harness brute force as well if he was to place high in the League.

 **Not that original from the start, I know two other stories that started w this plot. Hopefully this will finish them.**


End file.
